Intelius Aborts Cell Phone Lookup Service

Crushed by complaints from privacy advocates and a big one from Verizon Wireless, Intelius is shuttering its directory of cell phone numbers, which let anyone willing to pay 15 bucks look up any cell phone number to determine who the owner was. (The service is still up and running as I write this, however.)

The straw that seems to have broken the camel's back looks to have been Verizon's order for Intelius to "stop it" or face the consequences. With Intelius attempting to go public in coming months, it appears that the company has taken that advice to heart and dumped the idea, lest it ruin its chances for a big payoff in the market. In a statement, the company said, "We realize that in this instance we may have been ahead of our time. Wireless carriers attempted to develop a similar product a few years ago and found the market wasn't ready; it's clear that the market is still not ready."

Several years ago some major cell phone industry players floated plans to put together a wireless white pages, but a similar uproar stalled that effort in its tracks.

Lest you think you're safe now, Intelius is hardly the only website trying to get into this business. A simple web search turns up a good half dozen similar sites (though some are rebranded versions of Intelius), including this one. But at least Intelius's plans to shut down its directory are a step in the right direction.